Water Conservation

The Citrus County Utility Division provides high quality drinking water to Citrus County residents at the lowest possible cost. The recent drought has highlighted the need to use our most precious resource wisely. The Utility Division has instituted an aggressive water conservation program geared toward educating Citrus Countians on the importance of conserving our resources while effectively serving an ever increasing population.

Here's what you can do to save water.

Plainly and simply stated, you and your family must commit to conserving water. Take an audit of everything done by you and your family that involves water. Initiate a goal of eliminating or curbing unnecessary water use.

You must consider all activities from yard sprinklers to how much water you use while taking a shower. Do you know that brushing your teeth or washing your hands for two minutes uses six gallons of water?

Follow these water conservation tips so you can lower your bill and preserve this valuable resource:

Inside Your Home:

1. Save 4-10 gallons per day if you turn off the tap water while brushing your teeth or shaving;
2. Save 3-7 gallons per minute if you reduce the time you take in the shower to five minutes or less;
3. Fill a 50-gallon tub halfway and save up to 25 gallons;
4. Using the toilet as a wastebasket uses 5 gallons;
5. Flushing the toilet uses 5 gallons, Install a dam (available at most hardware stores) to reduce the amount of water used in each flush;
6. Running tap until water turns cold uses 3 gallons, Keep a gallon of drinking water in refrigerator.
7. Close the tub drain before turning on the water and you'll save three or more gallons;
8. Save 8-15 gallons per day if you fill your sink or basin when washing and rinsing dishes;
9. Save up to 15 gallons per load if you run your dishwasher only when full; select dishwashing cycles that use the least number of washes and rinses and avoid unnecessary rinsing of dishes before loading them into the dishwasher;
10. Save 2-4 gallons per day if you wash vegetables and fruits in a basin;
11. Save 2-7 gallons per minute if you use your garbage disposal only when necessary, since it requires water to operate;
12. Save 25-100 gallons per week if you run your washing machine only when full, or for smaller loads, adjust the water level setting carefully; washing machines use 25-50 gallons per load.

Outside Your Home:

1. Water your lawn and garden before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. on your appointed watering day only to avoid excess evaporation from the sun. A Citrus County Ordinance prohibits sprinkling between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Irrigate with about 3/4 inch of water. Less water means a shallow root system and little drough tollerance for your plants and grass. Too much water can drive nutrients and pesticides into the underground aquifer from which most of our drinking water is supplied.
2. Be sure sprinklers water only your lawn and not the pavement;
3. Never water on windy, rainy or very hot days;
4. Mulch keeps over 70% of water from evaporating;
5. Lawns will only require watering once every 10-14 days in the dry (Nov. to May season). A hearty rain can eliminate the need to water for as long as two weeks;
6. Raise your mower blade to a height of at least 3 inches. Taller blades of grass have deeper roots, and retain water better;
7. Plant more shrubs and less grass. Shrubs and ground cover require less maintenance and less water and provide year-round greenery;
8. Water plants using a slow trickle around the roots;
9. Apply mulch around plants to reduce evaporation, promote plant growth and control weeds;
10. Install a shut-off nozzle on your hose;
11. Wash your car by wetting it quickly, turn off the spray, then wash it with soapy water from a bucket. Rinse quickly;
12. Never use a hose to clean dirt off pavement. Use a broom.

Fix Leaks:

1. A leaky toilet, faucet or showerhead not only wastes hundreds of gallons of water per week, but also costs you money. Just a slow drip can waste 15 to 20 gallons of water per day. A 1/16 inch faucet leak wastes 100 gallons of water in 24 hours.
2. To find out if a toilet is leaking, put a dozen drops of red or blue coloring or a dye tablet in the toilet tank. If color appears in the bowl after 15 minutes, there is a leak.
3. A leaking faucet is obvious, but many leaks are hidden. To check for hidden leaks, take a reading of your meter and mark the sweep hand (like the second hand on your watch) with a marker. Wait an hour, making sure no one uses any water in your home (turn off any ice makers). Check the meter again. If the reading has changed, or the sweep hand moved you may have a leak.
4. To repair leaky fixtures in your home, you may wish to call a plumber for help. If you rent, report the leak to your landlord.
5. Low-cost investments will pay for themselves many times over
6. A low-flow faucet aerator, which costs less than $5.00 can save as much as two gallons of water per minute.
7. A low-flow showerhead, which costs $10 - $20 can save 2-4 gallons per minute.
8. A toilet dam installed in your toilet tank can save 1-3 quarts per flush.
9. If you're building or remodeling, remember that the law requires the installation of ultra low-flow toilets which use only 1.6 gallons per flush, a savings of more than 3 gallons from the old ones.

Note: You can find any of the above items at your local hardware store.

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